quick sweet and sour pickles

This Asian pickle recipe is from an old friend, Helen Wang, who is a great cook, with a real taste for hot food. I still remember her telling me to eat a very hot cherry pepper when I was in eighth grade – “oh no, it’s not hot, just like a pickle” – Oh, the pain, the pain…..

Ingredients:

Several Kirby cucumbers

1 cup rice vinegar

1 cup cold water

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. coarse Kosher salt

Directions:

Cut the cucumbers into quarters, lengthwise, after cutting off the very top and bottom.

Place the cucumber spears in glass jars or any other sealable non-reactive container.

Dissolve sugar and salt in vinegar and water and pour over cucumbers to cover.

Refrigerate.

The pickles are ok after a few hours, but get better overnight or if left for a few days. One can also use this pickling recipe to pickle almost anything, such as carrots, string beans, jalepenos or beets.